Nepal SC declines to issue interim order in Home Minister Lamichhane's citizenship case

Kathmandu [Nepal], January 6 (ANI): The Supreme Court of Nepal on Friday refused to issue an interim order in an appeal that demanded the suspension of the Deputy PM and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane.
The writ petition claimed that the lately inducted Minister had not acquired Nepali citizenship after ceding the US citizenship which makes him unfit to be a lawmaker of the Nepali parliament.
In the filed petition, Lamichhane has been accused of holding dual citizenship. Lamichhane, the chairman of the newly formed Rastriya Swatantra Party which took the November 2022 election by storm was found to have produced a copy of the Nepali citizenship he had acquired before getting American citizenship while filing his nomination.
As per Nepali law, holding dual citizenship is illegal. With the case being taken to the Apex Court, a constitutional bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Hari Krishna Karki and comprising Justices Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada, Ananda Mohan Bhattarai, Anil Kumar Sinha and Prakashman Singh Raut was formed.
The court on Friday maintained that the decision over the case will be made through a final verdict. With the court's denial to issue a stay order, Lamichhane can now continue to work as a minister and a lawmaker.
The bench also decided to hear the case on a priority while responding to two writ petitions that had been filed demanding the annulment of Lamichhane's membership from the House of Representatives. The next hearing in the case will be held on January 25.
The petitioners had demanded that Lamichhane should be removed from the post of party chief. The petitioner had said that only Nepali citizens have a constitutional right to vote in the elections, become candidates, and open a political party in the country.
The petitioners had contended that Lamichhane's positions as a member of the lower house and party president were illegal. (ANI)